Carnival Mirror
by TheQuirkyFedora
Summary: This is the story of Artie Cardin, who went through her years at Hogwarts not knowing Harry Potter was her twin brother.
1. Chapter 1

**In this story, the Prophecy was gender neutral, not like how it was in the books.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

Bu-Bmp. Bu-Bmp. Bu-Bmp. Bu-Bmp.

My heart beats so loud. Waves crash in my skull and drown out her words, but I get the gist of what Professor McGonagall's telling me and Harry.

Harry Potter, my brother.

Wow.

**15 Years Earlier**

My parents, Lily and James Potter, suspected Professor Trelawney's Prophecy was about one of their children, but they were just not sure which one. Because I was the firstborn, and the first witch born to the Potter family in generations, they felt it would be me.

They put protection around themselves and my twin brother Harry, while sending me to live with their most trusted friend Sirius Black. Sirius pretended I was his own, that my mother had abandoned me after birth. For one year, the plan worked fine. No one had suspicions and my parents visited every so often, but they did not reveal to either me or Harry that we were twins.

Not that it would have made a difference: I was too young to remember them before they died.

Apparently I cried throughout that Halloween night when they were slaughtered. Sirius stayed by my crib, not knowing what to do because I was usually such a calm baby. He only left once around 2 AM, to answer Professor Dumbledore who called through the fire.

When Sirius came back to my nursery after hearing the devastating news, the window was open and I was gone.

**Author's Note: I know that had to be confusing, it's so wierd knowing the background of a story and then having to explain it on paper. Please tell me what you think! Constructive criticism is much appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

It's hard to explain the first sound I ever remember hearing. Like a ringing in my ear, except not so hollow. A tinkling ring that rose and fell with the sounds of the forest, unifying nature and magic into its own melody.

The music was full of springtime, and so was the world the first time I opened my eyes.

Little bugs buzzed above me, under the blanket of new green leaves. Sunlight sifted through, ribbons of gold settling on the roots of live oaks.

Everything was so peaceful, it didn't seem wrong to me that I should wake up there, alone. With no family I remembered, no past life. Then again if you woke up not knowing anything about yourself, why would you assume there was anything to know?

After that first moment, the day went by in a blur. All I know is that somehow I felt the urge to get up, turn my head toward a random direction, and walk. Took the rest of the day to get there, but I didn't mind. There was no rush, and I knew I would get there eventually. Sometimes I miss that feeling, that certainty that I was doing the right thing, going where I needed to go.

I was right too, exactly right. I smiled to myself as forest gave way to country roads, then slowly into a city with paved lanes and streetlamps just flickering on as evening gave way to twilight. Everyone seemed to be in a rush, walking as fast as they could to the nearest cab or bus stop. It puzzled me at the time, why they were all hurrying when it was so lovely out, the sky fading into a deep pink, but I ignored it and kept walking.

Most of the people stared, I noticed. Hadn't they ever seen a little girl before? Surely they had, as about half of them _were_ girls. Maybe they hadn't seen one dressed as I was though. Most of them had on nice clothes, dark colors with sharp and precise edges. I guess mine were different. I wore a long wool coat that was a light brown color which covered a holey t-shirt that said something like "Holyhead Harpies is #1".

_Oh well_, I thought as I came up to the building. _Doesn't matter anymore._

It was an old building, whereas most of the others around looked new with their glass windows and shiny metal doors. No, this building was made of old stone blocks, dark grey with age. The double doors were wooden and taller than two of me put together. The knocker was too high for me to reach, so I stood up on my toes and knocked three times. I liked standing on my toes, made me feel taller.

A woman in clothes weirder than mine answered the door. She wore black from her head to her feet, except for a square cut out so her face could peek through. It was wrinkly, so wrinkly that it seemed her dark eyes were trying to hide behind all that skin. I couldn't decide if I liked her or not.

Her beady eyes fell on me, and suddenly she looked very tired. She kind of … _huffed_ out some air and turned her head to the side and said to someone behind the door, "We have another one."

I don't remember expecting any sort of reaction when arriving at the orphanage, but if I had… it wouldn't be this.

**…**

Two years.

Two years of being scorned. Of being told you're not like everyone else. Weird. Abnormal. A monster.

That is enough to make anyone put up a shield. But for me, it was a two tone stainless steel vault with the combination long forgotten.

When I first arrived at Cardin's Home for Unfortunate Girls, I didn't think it was all that bad. Sure there was no color other than grey, and practically everything had a layer of grime and grit on it. But I saw it as an adventure. My first ever adventure.

I really can't describe what possessed me to go to the orphanage. But when I woke up in that peaceful wood, I just knew I was supposed to go there. I still felt that way, but I resented it.

See, from my first moment there, I felt like an outsider. All the girls looked at me with confused eyes, silently judging me from their bedsides as I was lead up to my own by the same nun who greeted me at the door. When she left, I looked around the room at those I thought would be my new friends.

I could not have been more wrong.

"Who are you?" One of the girls demanded. I looked to my left to see the speaker. She had pale blonde hair, reaching down to her elbows. Her head was slightly bent forward, blue eyes penetrating.

I opened my mouth to speak. "Grace," I said, testing out my new name, the one given to me in the nun's office. "Grace Cardin."

She started moving towards me, eyes never leaving mine. "There's barely enough food here to keep us alive, let alone you too. If you give me your dinner bread, then I won't tell the nuns you slapped me. See, I'm their favorite, and they won't like that."

"B-but I didn't slap you," was my confused comeback. She was still coming towards me. I backed away so that my legs were pressed against the side of my mattress.

"Exactly."

She was too close and her eyes held nothing but hatred. As her hands moved to grasp my other arms, I drew in a frightened breath and closed my eyes.

But they opened again at the bloodcurdling scream. Suddenly the girl was across the room, on the floor. As she laid there, breathing laboriously, all eyes turned towards me, but all I could see was what I had done. The girl sat up and just stared. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out. She looked like she so badly wanted to say something, scream something, but as if she were scared to. She slowly got up, dusted off her plain white night gown, and walked to her own bed. Nodded at the other girls to do the same.

Shocked, I laid down on my creaky mattress, breathing roughly. Guilt ate at me every second that night. I didn't know how I did it, I didn't even touch her! But somehow I knew that it was my fault. That I was dangerous. And so did everyone else.

**Author's Note: I know it's late, but now I have a much clearer notion of where this story will go. And I know the summary says her name is Artie, but there is a reason for that! Thank you!**


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